In a hurry for answer lol

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
You still need a source of ammonia to keep the bacteria you do acquire fed. You also need to grow the bacteria culture large enough to handle the bioload of what you intend to stock with. :)
 
I just read on a site where I can use fish food to make ammonia and someone elses stuff from an established tank. Still okay? I live in a small town which is 100 miles from the nearest place where I would be able to find pure ammonia. Thanks!
 
Alone these methods will not cycle the tank for you. They will help but they will not cycle it alone. And without an ammonia source, all the good bacteria will die off and you will have to start from scratch. If you use the fish food, it will have to rot to produce enough ammonia to keep the tank going.

What size tank and what fish do you plan on keeping in it?
 
I have a 70G tank and one Black Ghost Knifefish. If I used some of his bloodworms and brine shrimp would that be good too?
 
Don't dose ammonia if you already have a fish in there. You should just squeeze some of your friends filter media into your filter. Bag up some of their gravel in some stocking and set it in your aquarium. Test your water daily, and do partial water changes when your ammonia and nitrite readings are out of the safe zone.
 
The fish is in a different tank so no worries there! (which is why I am cycling this tank so I don't make the same mistake again, my poor little Elvis!) I got the gravel in a stocking and in the tank, I also have one of their fake plants. I will look for some uncooked shrimp tomorrow and put that in there. Thanks!
 
Forget what cooking show I heard about it on (Good Eats, I think) the decaying shrimp almost start immediately to break down into ammonia. But I would how long it would take for it to be in quantities start feeding the bacteria.

Huh? Wondering if you put a stocking on the end of a gravel vac and do a deep vac of the gravel.....:confused:.... If the "gravel dirt" could be placed in a new tank to help get the ammonia level going? The gravel dirt is decomposing food and poo, would stand to reason....
 
JPKeenan said:
Forget what cooking show I heard about it on (Good Eats, I think) the decaying shrimp almost start immediately to break down into ammonia. But I would how long it would take for it to be in quantities start feeding the bacteria.

Huh? Wondering if you put a stocking on the end of a gravel vac and do a deep vac of the gravel.....:confused:.... If the "gravel dirt" could be placed in a new tank to help get the ammonia level going? The gravel dirt is decomposing food and poo, would stand to reason....
Click to expand...
you always seem to come up with these wierd, wacky ideas that for some reason make sense lol... that in theory is a good idea, i just wonder, as well, if it would work
 
Should get get some pieces (i.e. gravel or decorations) from someone's elses established tank and put it in with him now?
 
DK, wouldn't hurt with some decor from someone else's tank. The more bacteria you have coming in from another tank the faster it will be after to establish itself in you tank.

An El-Cheapo hint if you want to eventually have another tank. Go to a dollar store and get some of the plastic pot scrubbers. Stick one in the back of your filter. The bacteria will grow on that and if you place it in a new filter in a new tank it will help jump start things... and the price is right... 4 for a dollar :).

MFD - hey got me thinking cause I read this post after doing a heavy vac of one of my tanks. If dirty gravel causes an ammonia spike in an established tank it should do the same on a freshly started tank. Of course you would need to make sure that the tank it is coming from was healthy or else could introduce some nasty fungi and diseases. But that is true transferring anything from one tank to another.

Girl at work has a degree in some sort of biology or chemistry. You should hear some of the stuff I run by her. Never know till you ask.

I knew it didn't take that long when I put in decor, a used filter, a sack of gravel (a handful from established tank in an orange bag (plastic net)) in the 20g. It cut the cycle time to about 2-3 week instead of 4-5 weeks that I have heard some people say.

Another hint for cycling I have heard and that seemed to work was that you don't need light. Also crank the heater up to 80+ degrees.
 
Thanks for your input! I have already moved the fish over to the 70G, I just used filter media from an establised tank, some gravel and a fake plant. He is happily swimming away in his new home! He is one crazy guy! I can even "bottle feed" him already! I feed him his bloodworms with a kitten feeder and he definitley knows when it's time to eat! I also got some fish for the tank he was in, since that was cycled also lol. And I got a betta. I went from no fish to 9 fish in 2 weeks....HAHAHA! LOVE IT!
 
well i would think it would do the same thing just because there is uneaten food and poop in the gravel and its still going to make ammonia regardless of where it is... My method for a fast cycle is multiple filters. I have 2 filters on each of my 10's and 55, and 3 on my 150... just like when i started up the 55, i replaced one of the filters on my 150 with one i had for the 55 and the tank was cycled in 2 days...
 
dkpate said:
Thanks for your input! I have already moved the fish over to the 70G, I just used filter media from an establised tank, some gravel and a fake plant. He is happily swimming away in his new home! He is one crazy guy! I can even "bottle feed" him already! I feed him his bloodworms with a kitten feeder and he definitley knows when it's time to eat! I also got some fish for the tank he was in, since that was cycled also lol. And I got a betta. I went from no fish to 9 fish in 2 weeks....HAHAHA! LOVE IT!
Click to expand...
that beta wont know how to act in a 70g tank... ive never seen a beta in anything bigger than a cup like you'd get sweet n sour sauce at a chinese restaurant in...
 
Let us know how your beta does in the 70G. I've been thinking about adding one to my 75G stock list.
 
No no no! I have the BGK by himself in the 70G! LOL! I don't want anything to hurt him and vice versa! That's my BABY! And I have 4 dwarf gourami's and 3 kuhli loaces in his old 20G. The betta is in his own 1G tank and loves to argue with himself lol. I have a Penguin bio-wheel 350 and a Whisper 10-20 in the 70G. In the 20G I only have the one filter that came with it, (I will eventually get a different one though, cause this one came with POS media. I used filter media from someone elses tank in both, plus gravel and fake plants. I am getting good readings on my tests, which I have been doing every day. (I am still doing water changes though.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
High ammonia level
2 3
Replies
41
Views
1K
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
Kimbo57
Need ppm help.
Replies
11
Views
819
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
M
Strange Nitrate problem in fishless cycle
Replies
8
Views
815
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
S
New member in need of a lot of help please
Replies
8
Views
746
af2018
af2018
thekeymaker57
Are my Nitrites too high or do I need to wait it out?
Replies
5
Views
1K
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom